Ever feel like you're drowning in engineering metrics but still can't see the full picture? You're not alone. Engineering leaders have a ton of analytics tools to choose from, and it's easy to get overwhelmed.

Platforms like Jellyfish are popular for tracking high-level numbers like DORA metrics and R&D cost capitalization. And that's useful stuff! But often, those quantitative metrics don't tell you the why behind the numbers. They don't explain what's happening on the ground, outside of Git and Jira, or how to actually improve. This leaves a visibility gap that can slow down your team and get in the way of real progress.

This guide will break down the strengths and weaknesses of Jellyfish and introduce some alternatives that offer a more complete approach. We'll look at platforms that blend qualitative and quantitative insights to help you track performance, pinpoint bottlenecks like tech debt, and make your workflows smoother. By the end, you'll have a much clearer idea of which tool is the right fit for your team.

Jellyfish

Jellyfish is an engineering analytics platform built to help leaders track productivity, mainly through the lens of DORA metrics and R&D cost reporting. It gives leadership a good top-down view, but many engineering teams find it doesn't quite connect with the day-to-day challenges developers face.

Its strength is in reporting for the C-suite, but it can fall short when you need to understand the full story of developer productivity and what's blocking it. Some users also report that its reporting capabilities can be inflexible.

Pros:

• Cost Capitalization: The R&D cost capitalization reports are a big help for finance and leadership teams who need to track and report on engineering investments.

• DORA Metrics: It provides standard DORA metric tracking, which has become a go-to benchmark for measuring software delivery performance.

• Tool Integration: Jellyfish connects with essential tools like Git and Jira to pull in data for its analysis.

Cons:

• Limited Customization: The platform can be rigid in how metrics are defined and tracked, which is a problem for teams that need more tailored insights.

• Top-Down Focus: It’s built primarily for leaders, which means it offers limited insight into the actual developer experience. This can create a disconnect between what leadership sees and what the team is actually dealing with.

Jellyfish is a solid choice for high-level reporting. But if you need more flexibility and a deeper focus on the developer experience, you might find it comes up short.

Weave

Weave is built on the principle that teams engineering teams are better off with an objective measure of engineering output. Sales has revenue, engineering needs something. Weave answers this question by scanning every PR using ML & LLMs to answer the question ‘how long would it take an expert engineer to complete?.’ With this data, teams are able to quantify the impact AI is having, ramp new hires, and see draw cross team insights.

Key Advantages:

• Built for the Whole Team: Weave isn't just for managers. Its intuitive dashboards and actionable insights are designed for quick adoption across the entire engineering org. This makes it easy for everyone, from junior devs to senior leaders, to use data in their daily workflows, improve performance, and stay aligned.

• Truly Actionable Insights: Weave doesn't just dump data on you—it helps you figure out what to do next. By connecting the dots between system metrics and developer feedback, Weave helps you spot the root cause of productivity barriers. It’s about fostering a continuous improvement loop, not just generating reports.

• Flexible and Integrated: Weave works with the tools you already use, like GitHub and Jira, giving you flexibility and control. You can customize how you measure performance and manage data to fit your team's unique needs, all while getting instant insights into your workflows.

Considerations:

• Requires a Commitment to Action: Weave delivers the most value to teams that are ready to act on the insights they uncover. It’s a tool for driving change, not just for passive observation.

• Flexibility Over Rigidity: While some platforms offer a huge menu of pre-built reports, Weave prioritizes a flexible approach that allows you to tailor the platform to what your team actually needs to measure.

Weave offers a way to measure and improve engineering effectiveness by focusing on data. For organizations that want to ship faster and quantify AIs ROI, Weave the the best option.

LinearB

LinearB is an engineering effectiveness platform focused on helping teams improve their operational efficiency. It zeroes in on key areas like developer productivity, code quality, and workflow optimization, making it a contender for teams looking to streamline their processes.

Pros:

• Automated Metrics: LinearB automates the collection of key engineering metrics, which saves time and provides data-driven insights that align with business goals.

• DevOps Tool Integration: It integrates with tools like GitHub, Jira, and Slack, creating a single source of truth for your entire development pipeline.

• Improvement Insights: The platform provides insights to help you shorten cycle times, reduce code churn, and boost developer satisfaction.

Cons:

• Learning Curve: For teams new to engineering analytics, there can be a learning curve to get the most out of the platform.

• Limited Customization: While the default metrics are solid, the options for customizing dashboards and reports can be limited for teams with highly specific needs.

• Lack of Self-Reported Metrics: LinearB focuses on system data and doesn't incorporate self-reported metrics from developers. This can leave out crucial context about workload, morale, and other human factors that impact productivity.

Swarmia

Swarmia is a flexible platform designed to improve engineering productivity with a focus on team dynamics and workflow optimization. It’s a tool for enhancing collaboration and driving continuous improvement.

Pros:

• Data-Driven Improvements: Swarmia surfaces important team metrics like cycle times and delivery bottlenecks, helping teams make decisions to optimize their workflow.

• Developer-Centric: The platform emphasizes developer autonomy and satisfaction, providing tools that help engineers take ownership of their work while reducing friction.

• Customizable Workflows: Swarmia’s workflow tracking is customizable, allowing it to adapt to the needs of different engineering teams.

Cons:

• Steep Learning Curve: The customization options can come with a steeper learning curve, which might slow down initial adoption.

• Limited Integrations: While it integrates with key tools like GitHub, it may lack the broader range of integrations found in other platforms.

• No Self-Reported Metrics: Like some other tools, Swarmia relies solely on automated data, which means it misses the human perspective on workload, stress, and team health.

Pluralsight Flow (formerly GitPrime)

Pluralsight Flow provides data-driven insights to help software teams measure and optimize their performance. It offers analytics on code commits, pull requests, and review discussions to help leaders understand team and individual contributions.

Pros:

• Comprehensive Code Insights: Flow tracks a range of code-related activities, offering a data-driven way to improve team performance.

• Team and Individual Metrics: The platform provides a balance of team and individual performance metrics, which can be useful for aligning with broader business objectives.

• Easy Reporting: Flow offers reports that are easy for non-technical managers and business teams to understand, supporting better decision-making.

Cons:

• High Cost: The platform can be expensive, especially for smaller teams.

• Potential for Misuse: The focus on individual metrics can be problematic if not handled carefully, as it can sometimes lead to unhealthy competition rather than collaboration.

• Overemphasis on Quantitative Data: Flow focuses heavily on quantitative metrics and overlooks the value of qualitative data. Without developer feedback, you get an incomplete picture of productivity.

Code Climate Velocity

Code Climate Velocity is a tool that provides engineering insights to drive decision-making and optimize development processes. It places an emphasis on code quality and maintaining high standards.

Pros:

• Focus on Code Quality: Velocity’s strength is its focus on maintaining high code quality without sacrificing speed.

• Balanced Metrics: The tool combines performance and quality metrics, offering a data-driven approach to balancing speed with stability.

• CI/CD Integration: It integrates with CI/CD pipelines, providing real-time insights across the development lifecycle.

Cons:

• Complex Setup: The setup process can be difficult for teams with complex systems or workflows.

• Requires Regular Attention: To get the full benefit, Velocity requires continuous monitoring, which can add to the managerial workload.

Plandek

Plandek provides end-to-end visibility into the software delivery process, helping engineering teams improve performance and align their work with business goals. It’s a tool for tracking key metrics across the development lifecycle.

Pros:

• Holistic View: Plandek offers a view across the software delivery process, from coding to deployment.

• Focus on Predictability: By tracking forecast accuracy and delivery predictability, Plandek helps teams improve their timelines and reduce delays.

• Advanced Analytics: The platform offers analytics and reporting, making it valuable for organizations with complex projects that require long-term trend analysis.

Cons:

• Steeper Setup: Plandek’s feature set can take more time to fully configure, making it less ideal for teams looking for a quick start.

• Overkill for Small Teams: While useful for large organizations, its analytics may be too much for smaller teams that need a simpler solution.

Measuring developer productivity is important, but choosing the right tool depends on your team’s specific needs. While Jellyfish provides a baseline, alternatives like Weave, LinearB, and others offer different strengths.

Whether you need to prioritize real-time insights, code quality, or a holistic balance of performance and developer well-being, there’s a tool out there for you. When making your choice, think about your team's size, the complexity of your workflows, and what you really want to measure.

So, what’s most important for your team’s success?